


Cloak and Dagger

by valkyreina



Category: Original Work
Genre: Black Character(s), Dating, Drama, F/F, Falling In Love, Family Drama, Female Character of Color, Female Relationships, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character of Color, Love, Mental Health Issues, Original Fiction, POV Female Character, Pride, Running Away, Teen Fiction, Teen Years, Violence, WIP, femaleprotagonist, lgbt fiction, original wip - Freeform, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valkyreina/pseuds/valkyreina
Summary: Cloak and Dagger follows a young girl that wished just a bit too hard for a Romeo and Juliet love story, and now she can't back out.It's a classic teen romance story starring Adia Johnson as she tiptoes around figuring out her identity while her own evils lurk around every corner and new friends that push her into new and impulsive scenarios.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I have likely not edited my chapters as I upload them. An awful habit, I know, but if I do I'll never feel as though they're good enough to upload. I also like having a buffer before the beginnings and first chapters. Likely to be updated as I go.

_Cloak and Dagger_ follows a young girl that wished just a bit too hard for a Romeo and Juliet love story, and now she can't back out.  
It's a classic teen romance story staring Adia Johnson as she tiptoes around figuring out her identity while her own evils lurk around every corner and new friends that push her into new and impulsive scenarios.


	2. 1- Her.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adia Johnson meets Tessa Cass, unknowingly changing her life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry, not edited<3

It felt like years since Tessa Cass had moved in, but her new girl charm never quite faded. There was something about her style and siren-like voice that drew people into her storm. The way she sang to herself quietly was evidence enough that she was beyond perfect, and I hadn't been able to get it out of my head for weeks.

Naturally, everyone's eyes were on her, even after the months that had passed, and despite my inability to stop staring, knowing that my boyfriend's eyes drifted her way whenever she walked into the room made my jaw ache and head throb. 

But when I ran out of Mrs. Warren's room for early dismissal and ran right into her, I felt at peace. Her faint earthen scent was a gentle tap to my senses, awakening them as I fell back onto the old tile floor. While I was able to keep a firm grasp on my notebooks, the same couldn't be said of Tessa.

"Oh my god, I—"my breath caught in my throat as she began to speak. I couldn't even finish my own thought.  
  
"—I'm so sorry!" Tessa cut in, saving me from my own embarrassment as she profusely apologized, her papers scattering across the floor. Her dirty blonde hair fell in front of her face and she seemingly struggled to move it. She was sharper than my classmates described, which somehow made her beauty that much more entrancing. Words didn't do her justice—I couldn't even compare her without attenuating her looks.

"I shouldn't have been running," I muttered softly as I stupidly dropped everything to help the girl up.

"I should have been paying attention," she giggled, letting the melody of her voice ring through the empty halls. "I'm Tessa. You're Adia, right?" She brushed her blonde hair back as she spoke, her smile brightening her face.

"How did you know?" Now I was the one to grab my notebooks off the ground. While I was down there, I caught a glimpse of her combat boots, noticing there were almost no creases on the fresh-looking shoes. Her jeans looked clean, except for the few brown specks by the cuffs.

"I'm familiar with your boyfriend," she replied curtly. My heart dropped as I remembered that I was in a relationship, and a pretty decent one at best. The hallway went silent as I acknowledged the end of our conversation, but as I turned to leave, she boldly asked to walk me to my locker, and I agreed.

"Your hair is so long, how long have you been growing it?" Tessa chirped as she casually kept up my pace beside me. The sound of her boots stomping on the ground clashed with the light sound of my heels tapping under me.

"Oh, I've been growing out my hair for a few years now is all," I shrugged, trying to ignore the look she was giving me. "My mom went crazy and shaved my hair off a while back." Tessa's hand landed on my forearm while I spoke. Soon, my hand was in hers as we walked down the hall in silence, as if we had been friends since childhood, neither of us breaking the silence.

"Hey cutie, looks like this is your stop." Tessa's smile dropped slightly as the words left her lips. She quickly scribbled something down on my notebook and looked around just as the bell had rung. She winked and sauntered off in her tight, black shirt and light flannel that draped over her perfect body.

And just like that, I hated the girl again. She was sweet to me, but I couldn't deal with her beauty being on my mind while my body ached from anger. I had completely forgotten about Caleb until he playfully slammed my locker shut.

"You look happy. Who were you with?" Caleb inquired, dragging his finger across my collarbone, but all I could think about was all of Tessa's perfections. She was everything I wasn't, and it was no wonder how she supposedly stole everyone's boyfriends. The only thing worse than a distracted boyfriend is his best friend Max, who has, on several occasions, hit me over little things that Caleb complained about, and I lied to protect him every time.

"Just a friend," I replied as I reopened my locker to finish packing up, something that Caleb had disrupted with his general being.

"What friend?" His hand trailed closer to my neck, and there was that familiar feeling: my heart began pounding and my body shivered slightly. Though I became accustomed to the action, the feeling never faded.

"Is it your business?" I managed, my voice trembling slightly against my will. He knew I had nowhere to go, and he wasn't going to let me go. His breathing went uneven as he pulled my body closer to his. I suppressed a yelp as he spoke directly into my hear, not dropping his volume.

"Who were you with?" There was something about his flat voice that made me want to break away. Nobody had made me feel that way in a long time, and for the first time, I realized that new doesn't always mean good.

"Oh, Adia?" A firm voice questioned, suddenly next to me. I turned my head so fast I could've sworn I heard my neck crack. "Need a ride?" Tessa's smile was warm and comforting, but her hazel eyes were slightly wider than just minutes before and she continuously stole glances at Caleb. "I mean, you are going to tutor me today, right?" Her tone was soft and innocent as she spoke to me as if we were alone. I turned to eye Caleb, then Tessa, then Caleb again. The safest choice was clearly Caleb as he wouldn't get mad at me for ditching him, but Tessa offered comfort, and though the thought of her gave me emotional whiplash, the obvious choice came instantly.

"Right, I'm sorry, Caleb! I..." I looked back at Tessa, who was offering a supportive, yet shy smile. "I completely forgot about tutoring."

"Okay... Call me when you're done. Be home by eight." Caleb leaned down and kissed my cheek, lingering for a few seconds too long before leaving.

The moment he was out of earshot, Tessa rolled her eyes and looked down slightly, letting her eyes connect with mine. "What a buzzkill."

"Tell me about it! I can't be out past eight but then I see his snaps while he's at parties at midnight." I sighed and closed my locker, wondering how I had gotten into this situation in the first place. Tessa shook her head and let out a quiet groan that I agreed with.

"Honey, have you thought about breaking up with him? You deserve someone who won't give you a bedtime. You're just dating your dad at that point, and nobody wants that." Tessa led me out to her car in the school parking lot as she trapped me in the conversation. I hadn't even realized we had gotten outside until the light breeze and sun assaulted me. "He's killing your vibe."

"My vibe?" I stifled a laugh as she spoke with a straight face. There was something about the word that sounded childish. My father would have never let me be so casual around strangers, and, as I thought about it, neither would Caleb.

"Yeah, your vibe. Aren't you more comfortable when he's calm and not so," there was a clear struggle to find the correct word as her dark eyebrows creased together, "invasive?" She paused and looked at me from over the hood of her car. Her eyes seemed to change colors under the sun, distracting me from our conversation. When I snapped out of my daze, I realized her eyebrows were once again knitted together as she waited for me to respond.

"Aren't guys always like that?" I asked, hesitating before getting into the stranger's car. Tessa shook her head as her car door shut.

"Good guys won't be like that. Don't settle." Tessa started the car and her music began playing almost instantly. Her cheeks flushed as she rushed to silence it, but I stopped her before her hand reached the volume dial.

"I love this song," I said quietly, watching her lips curve into a smile as I began to forget the past. She let her hand drop to the center console, and for some reason, my hand stayed with hers, though she didn't seem to mind.

"I love your brown hair, but have you considered red?" Tessa smiled, but her eyes were locked on the road.

"Thanks, I uh, grew it brown myself." Tessa laughed as I stammered in front of her. I tried ignoring her as my face heated up. "Where are we going?" I asked quietly, looking over at Tessa. She had a trustworthy feel to her, but I had to remind myself that she was still a stranger to me. A boyfriend-stealing stranger at that.

"Just downtown. Maybe we'll keep you out _past_ eight."

"Caleb would kill me," I said awkwardly. "And I—"

"If he's restricting you, leave him. I've seen enough girls go through this: thinking it's normal or okay. It's not," Tessa finally said. "I couldn't ever do that to a girl I promised to love."

"But he says he does," I mumbled, feeling less and less hopeful about my already dreary situation. "I trust him... I think."

"If you're not sure, you should review everything you know." Tessa sighed and shook her head, "I don't want to say it, but I've seen Caleb out at parties before, and he isn't quite who he says he is." Her tone changed and her voice dropped to almost a whisper as she turned off of Main Street to park.


	3. 2- The Devil Smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adia makes a truce with Tessa.

Tessa's eyes were set on the road even after she parked. No words were shared after she spoke, and the air in the car suddenly became thick. My breaths were beginning to still in my chest. Son of a fucker, I had ruined everything, hadn't I?

"I'm so sorry," Tessa's hands kept steady as she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. "I have the pictures somewhere."

"What pictures?" I felt my voice come out only in a whisper. Nothing was stopping me from screaming out in the car, only my dignity, and evidently it was running itself thin.

"These," Tessa's voice felt lyrical even while delivering the harsh news that Caleb had been over other girls while I was asleep. Somehow, despite my entire body growing hot from Caleb, my anger was directed towards Tessa. Something about her perfection was irking me.

"When?" I let my fingertip graze the screen, the cool material singeing my skin. I was damn close to breaking the phone. But I wasn't surprised. I looked back up at Tessa, seeing the light wrinkles on her forehead and the slight twitch of her defined nose said it all. It was recent enough. "Don't tell me."

I slumped back in the seat, defeated as I knew there was nothing I could do. Leave Caleb and be hunted down by his feral friends? Bring it up to him and get chewed out for being nosey? There was nothing I could do.

"Hey, let's go clear your mind," Tessa's tune was soft and charismatic, and before I could process it, I was out of her car and following her down the street.

"What's going on?" My hand was in hers as she pulled me along the street. The streetlights were blinding and the store windows were bright, but something about it drew me in. I was fuming, but at the same time, I was calm. I knew I should be upset but I couldn't force the emotions out. Everything in me was conflicting and I felt lighter than I had in months.

"We're getting a drink. This is the beginning of the end, enjoy it!" Her hand squeezed mine and she tugged me into a small shop by an alley.

The strong scent of coffee fled my senses as I adjusted to the low lighting. My legs were shaking, barely holding me up and my heart was skipping beats at a time, causing me to stumble to the counter. Tessa reached out to help me, and my eyes met hers again for the second or third time that day.

She still looked impossibly perfect, and I hated it.

Her curled hair was styled half-up, allowing me to see her clear skin, perfect roundish-almond eyes, and long, dark lashes. Her glossy lips were full and perfect and—

—and I could never be like her.

"Is something wrong?" Her voice was perfect, and it was pissing me off. "This one's on me."

"Yeah, I'm alright. I think I just need to sit down. I'm sorry," I moved to a table in the back with Tessa trailing behind me. She promised to be right back and walked up to the counter to order something. Alec, the barista, was a boy from my stats class and I spoke to him only when I needed help with the homework. He never struck me as one to need a job.

Even as I watched the two interact, my eyes still landed on Tessa.

Her small waist was accentuated in her tiny top, and her confidence was intimidating me. She turned and glanced my way, smiling when she noticed my staring. Her mouth rose lopsided, but it was still beautiful, and it never dropped. She was still smiling by the time she made it over to the table.

"I got you a latte. I got up there and realized that I didn't know—" She paused when I brought the hot drink up to my lips. I wasn't surprised when the drink burned me, but I drank it to quiet Tessa. "Everything building up, darling?" She reached her hand out and I took it. She rubbed her thumb against my hand and suddenly my head was empty again.

"I'm just frustrated. And to be honest? Completely honest, I think I hate you." I sighed out and rested my head against the wall. Who says that to somebody?

"You hate me?" Her eyebrows quirked up and her eyes glistened. There was genuine shock drawn over her face that I hadn't expected, which was a reasonable reaction considering I had just admitted my deep disliking of her, but it took my breath away regardless.

"Yeah, you're just so perfect! You're beautiful." The words weren't supposed to come out of my mouth but there was nothing I could do but sit in them and wait for a response. Why did I have to tell her that?

"Well, I think if we work together, we can get your confidence through the roof."

"How?"

"We can figure it out." Her hand left mine and brushed against my arm. My blood ran warm through my body. "My dear, a lack of confidence in yourself only leads you down a life of hate." She then took a quick glance back at a preoccupied Alec. "I'm here for you."

The girl was beautiful and I screamed charity case. Her face was probably sponsored by Fenty and mine was begging to be washed properly. We weren't the same.

"I think you need to take a break from boys and I could use a friend too."

And yet she was reading me like a book.

Something about her smile brought me in, and she knew she had me right where she wanted me. "We could _start_ with a sleepover."


	4. 3- I Kissed a Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adia stays the night with Tessa, but Tessa has other plans for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in a weird blackout. Enjoy lmao

We pulled up at Tessa’s house, which was about what I expected. It was fairly large and I caught a glimpse of a pool when we were pulling up, but Tessa seemed desensitized to the neighborhood she lived in, a whole twenty minutes away from school.

“Why don’t you go to one of the private schools? Looks like you can afford it,” I blurted before I was able to filter myself. Tessa giggled as she put the car in park behind a clean, white Mercedes-Benz, which I kept to myself about.

“You don’t have nearly as much fun at private schools,” she said with a smirk. It occurred to me that I still didn’t know this girl other than the basics like her name and the fact that we went to the same school, but I was still following her into her house like a sheep regardless.

“The place is nice,” I offered while taking my shoes off at the door. The hardwood floor cooled my feet through my socks. The ceiling was high and the walls were a clean white, paired with cherry wood accents, giving off the illusion that the room was bigger than it already was.

“Thank you, my parents thought the smaller house would be humbling.” Tessa kicked her shoes off, landing them next to mine on the floor, before grabbing my hand and nodding toward the staircase.

“Humbling? _Smaller_?” I turned to Tessa, who looked unfazed. “Who is _us_?”

Tessa pursed her lips, her eyebrows furrowing as she hesitated to answer, which she quickly covered with a smirk. “My brother lives with me. Our parents wanted us to bond and sent us out here, but he’s with his friends tonight.”

“I’d hardly call this a small place,” The scoff slipped out, and I began coughing as I choked on my own spit as I realized what I had said. It was too late, but luckily for me, Tessa was still grinning as she gently pulled on my hand.

“It’s the smallest house I’ve lived in, but I have definitely seen smaller homes. Did you know some don’t even have a second story?” Her hand brushed against the white banister as she slowly took the stairs one at a time. She tugged me toward the door at the end of the hallway and swung it open.

The room was painted a light beige, highlighting the polished hardwood floor when she pulled her curtains apart. She fell down onto the chair by her vanity, dropping her backpack on the floor beside her.

“I was thinking we head to sleep early so we can hang out in the morning.” Tessa turned and grinned, showing off her straight teeth for a few seconds. I nodded and shrugged my back onto the ground before taking an awkward seat on the bed. Tessa pulled a brush out of her dresser and began detangling her hair.

“What do you see in Caleb?” Tessa asked casually while brushing her hair out. Her eyes were on herself in the reflection, but every few minutes I’d catch her looking at me.

“He’s just,” I paused. He was never there for me, he treated me like a child, and his friends were aggressive and rude to me. But he was always there. True to his word, he was always a call away, and nobody else had that much dedication to me. “We’ve been through a lot together,” I replied instead.

“Girly,” Tessa huffed and mumbled to herself as she untangled a knot before redirecting her attention back to me. “That doesn’t mean he’s a good person.”

I looked over her shoulder to see myself in the mirror. My father always told me that my dark skin was a blessing, that my curly hair was given to me by his god, each strand curled deliberately, and my wide-set eyes were given to me by my mother as a gift. I had never really seen anyone like me in town, with a warm undertone to brown skin and the distinct trace of Afrika.

Then I looked at her.

The way Tessa’s skin glowed under the setting sun was blinding. There was a golden hue begging to seep through her body. She smiled softly at her reflection as she carefully removed her makeup.

She stripped down and searched through her dresser for something to cover up with, eventually coming up with a pair of black shorts. She held it up to her face, inspecting them closely while I unashamedly eyed up my competition, simply because that was all she was. A girl standing in the way of me and my boyfriend.

My mother always said green was not a good color on me.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable like that?” Tessa asked as she slipped the shorts on, covering the stretch marks that threatened to crawl up to her hips. While not as obvious as mine, I had some in the same spot. Something about seeing her naturally made me breathe easier.

I simply nodded as I took a seat on her bed, still observing her nighttime routine.

“Girl, come on, you’ll get hot in the middle of the night.” She pulled the string on her ceiling light and her fan kicked up. “I used to wake up sweating back when this fan didn’t work. Gotta bless my brother for that one.”

“Well,” The thought of waking up in the middle of the night was embarrassing. Tessa was already holding up a large black shirt for me.

“I’ll turn around.” She tossed me the shirt, which I barely caught, and spun around. I changed without thinking, admiring how the top stopped at my mid-thigh. I threw myself onto the bed again, moving my arms over my legs to cover them. Tessa turned around and took a few steps closer to me.

“Does it fit well?” She looked at the shirt I was wearing. The neckline and cut were fine, and she seemed to have decided that too.

Tessa lowered herself against the headboard, trapping me between her arms. The distance seemed to close itself as I studied her face. Her fingertips brushed against my cheek. Her laughter filled the air. Her breath was fanning against my nose, and suddenly she was kissing me. Everything moved slowly when her lips were on mine.

I became aware of her hands, one on my cheek, and the other barely on my waist. Her hair draped over us, tickling my skin as she moved. Everything about her in that moment felt right.

Her warmth disappeared all too quickly as she pulled back into reality. The voice in my head nagged about Caleb, but I wanted to stay in the kiss forever. There was something about it that sped up my breathing and made me see double, and the foreign experience left me craving more.

I sat against the headboard panting as Tessa looked on with a grimace. It was something to be regretted, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about it.

She took a seat next to me on the bed without another word. I avoided her gaze while pulling the blanket over myself, praying that Tessa wouldn’t mention the elephant in the room, but it was too late. I could feel Tessa’s eyes boring into me, looking beyond my own and into my soul. I was entranced by her deep autumnal eyes, finding it hard to look away.

“We can’t keep this up, Dia,” Tessa broke me softly while running her fingers across my skin, tracing every delicate area she could find, from my shoulders to my lips, she said nothing more as she broke me down to my essentials.

“Where does this leave us?” I murmured to myself while playing with the blanket in my hands.

“There can’t be an _us_ , Dia.” Tessa used her new nickname for me affectionately, as if she wasn’t wielding a double-edged sword. “It isn’t a good idea,”

“I must’ve been out of my mind,” I replied dryly, feeling the words shoot from the back of my throat. Tessa’s eyes never hardened, instead, she squinted as her smile lifted her cheeks. She offered nothing more than her smile before I was lulled to sleep by the sound of the wind from her bedroom window.


End file.
